Far West

Vernon, Calif., the scandal-ridden Los Angeles County city that narrowly avoided being disincorporated in 2011, now faces allegations of voter fraud.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has filed papers to launch a signature-gathering campaign to place a pension reform initiative on the city's May ballot.

An early plan to bring build an arena to bring the NBA Golden State Warriors across the bay to San Francisco would cost around $1 billion.

Alaska voters decide on a $453 million transportation bond next month, though questions remain over a project at the Port of Anchorage that would receive $50 million in bond proceeds.

Robert Henn, acting director of the Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt bond office, will retire from the agency at the end of the year.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer said he may cut off from state bond deals underwriters and advisors who worked on some of the more egregious capital appreciation bonds issued by local school districts.

A sluggish housing market in California will delay economic recovery for local governments by several years, Fitch Ratings said.

Jeanine Rodgers Caruso, president of Fiscal Advisors & Marketing Inc., is the new board president of the National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors

The Securities and Exchange Commission hopes to finalize its definition of municipal advisor early next year, according to the head of the SEC's municipal securities office.

Williams Capital, a leading minority-owned investment bank, hired Sean Boyea as a principal in its new Sacramento office.